Rerun : The asteroid who passed near the earth while we know nothing about him

On last January 25, an asteroid approached in a very abrupt manner from the earth. He was the size of a bus and he passed between the earth and the moon at a distance of 261,000 km from our surroundings, but without doing any damage. However, there was only one problem in this story: This asteroid was discovered only four days before its passage near the earth.

It was in the early hours of the morning of the last January 25th, when the small asteroid 2017 BX passed between the earth and the moon, around 261,119 km (representing approximately two-thirds of the Earth-Moon distance). Called “Rerun”, the asteroid made his way without making any damage. However, it is the second asteroid that passes next to the earth in the space of three weeks, since the beginning of 2017. The problem remains in the rather late identification of these stars, because scientists recognize them only a few days before they pass through our environment. Thus, the passage of Rerun was discovered only on January 20 last by the astronomers of Slooh, Indeed, this latters called it as a tribute to Fred “Rerun” Stubbs of the American series What’s Happening, broadcast on television in the 1970s.

The asteroid was the size of a bus

Observations are being made at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, to look for more details on the asteroid Rerun. For now, NASA researchers estimate that its size is between 6.6 and 15 meters, presumably 8.5 meters. For those of Slooh, it can measure between 4 and 14 meters. The speed of its displacement is estimated at 26,800 km/h.

On the other hand, NASA researchers are making enormous efforts to track and identify the movement of these stars. It is enough to take a look at the data table of the program Near-Earth Object of Nasa, to know that many have already been identified and that their trajectories are known, without there being a risk of having a coalition with the earth for the next years or even decades